


The Brooch

by but_i_am_a_villain



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: a little regina musing, inspired by a line in 6x07, young queen regina, young snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 14:59:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13720125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/but_i_am_a_villain/pseuds/but_i_am_a_villain
Summary: "You know that broach I sold? My father gave that to my mother because he loved her. She treasured it. After she died, you know what he did? He gave it to Regina-- because he loved her too. And she treated it like trash. His love meant everything to my mother, and nothing to my stepmother."Snow sees her father's new marriage one way. Regina experiences it all in another. Musings regarding the broach mentioned in 6x07.





	The Brooch

He had given it to her four weeks after the wedding, upon their return to the palace after a brief outing to the markets. It had been so frightfully busy, so overwhelmingly crowded, that she had kept a hand on Snow the entire time. If the girl got lost, surely she would be to blame for it, and there would be no fun left for Regina in her future tormenting of the girl if she were to get trampled now. So she had guided her and protected her, helping her weave in and out of groveling men and curtsying women that lined the heavily trodden dirt streets. It had not been an intentional act of motherly protection, but that’s how the king had seen it, and that’s why he had given her such a gift.

  
_It belonged to Snow’s mother, before she passed_ , he’d said, handing her a little box tied with a cream-colored ribbon, _and you’ve already looked so kindly after Snow that I’d like you to have it._

  
She’d unwrapped a beautiful gold brooch, a polished jade stone placed in its center. With a forcibly wide smile that her husband always thought genuine, Regina had thanked him. She’d clutched the little trinket within both her palms, pulling it up to her chest and pretending like it was the most precious thing she’d ever seen. She’d grinned at it, she’d stolen off to her room to put it on before dinner, she’d had her maid fasten it to the neck of a silver gown that accentuated its color most excellently. She’d sat up straight at dinner, showing it off to the King who smiled, clearly pleased with himself for selecting such a fitting gift. She’d reached for it several times throughout the evening, reminding herself it was there and straightening it after every few bites. She’d even showed it to Snow, who commented on it almost immediately.

  
_Oh, you do look so beautiful with it on, Regina. My mother would have wanted you to have it._

  
Yes, she’d worn it with such pride, such elegance.

  
And when she returned to her chambers, she’d ripped it off immediately.

  
Hands clawed frantically at her neck, snagging the brooch by its edges and tearing it viciously away. Fabric ripped with it, sending both a strand of silver lining and the heavy stone hurling across her bedroom. She gasped for every breath she took, fighting for air beneath the strain of the noose that had been draped beneath her throat all evening. The priceless pin, the rope that had forced her to dangle from the gallows of a life she had never wanted, was far too much to bear. She had not wanted to become a mother, she had not wanted to become a wife-- not his wife. She hadn’t wanted any of this, least of all a trinket that had been a reward for her facade.

  
She didn’t bother to look for the wretched thing, didn’t care where it had landed. Instead she raced to her vanity, fished out a single brass ring from the gilded sides of a saddle, and clutched that to her chest instead. The rest of her night was spent collapsed against her desk, sobs pouring themselves into painted wood that would never release her miseries.

  
The brooch became something of an object of a sick game for the next several weeks. Some maid had found the damn thing and put it back in Regina’s jewelry box, where she could not escape the sight of it every time she reached for a pair of earrings. On her better days, the young queen would simply shove it out of sight, into one of the farthest corners of some drawer where it would only weasel its way to the front after a week or two. On her darker days, however, after nights where she had been reminded _exactly_ what being a wife meant, she would sweep it off the table in hopes of shattering it. If it broke, she would never have to see it again. If it broke, perhaps she could breathe just a little easier.

  
It was not to be that simple. In her moments of silent distress, Regina often forgot that prying eyes were but two feet away from her door at any given moment, and Snow was often privy to her attempts to destroy the King’s gift.

  
_What are you doing? That was my mother’s, it’ll break!_ That was the response Regina heard most often, when the trinket fell to the ground by a sweep of her hand.

  
“Oh...Snow, I’m sorry. I didn’t even see it, it was an accident, darling!” she gasped, immediately bending down to retrieve the item. It would return to her vanity after that, until hours later when she would attempt to sweep it away again.

  
This went on for years, all culminating in unsuccessful attempts to destroy the markings of the marriage that had a stranglehold on Regina’s life. Never once did the stone shatter, or the gold flake, or the pin bend, never _once._

  
Not until the night of the king’s murder, where the pressure of Regina’s palm as she reveled in the hiss of the vipers was enough to chip away at the edge of the golden base. She hadn’t noticed the imperfection until several days later, following the funeral. Her life had worked in reverse then; as the bastard was set in his stone tomb, she had been pulled away from her scaffolding. The noose around her neck loosened, the executioner’s hands pulled away. And when Snow had approached her, drowning in tears, Regina had pressed the brooch into the girl’s hand and spoken to her in soft, airy tones.

  
“Take this, my dear. I know how trying it can be to lose the ones you love. Take it, you will need it...your mother would have wanted you to have it.”

  
She had taken a gulp of air then, her first in many, many years.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this over a year ago now, and thought I would post it as a test of my new account! Plus, I was a little reminiscent about past seasons, especially with the announcement that the show was ending. I miss all our old cast, and am going to miss this show even more. So here's a little slice of some thoughts and memories from an earlier time, inspired by Blue and Snow's conversation regarding love, Eva, Leopold, and Regina.
> 
> Thank you for the read!


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